Apparatus for treating pulverulent materials



May 21, 1940. 2,201,552

APPARATUS FOR TREATING PULVERULEN'I MATERIALS N. .AHLMANN Filed llay- 15, 1936 71/441 ,f mm- ATTORNEY5 Patented May 21, 1940 UNITED, ,STATES PATENT oFFlcE APPARATUS Foa TREATING PULVERULENT MATERIALS Nikolai Ahlmann, Copenhagen, Ilenmark, as- I signor to F. L. Smidth I: Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application May 15, 1938, Serial Nb. 79,837

, In Great Britain Mayj31, 1935 1 Claim. (or. 257-1 2) This invention relates to the treatment of puiverulent materials to alter the heat content thereof for the purpose of either heating or cooling to sweepover the materials, or the materials havebeen charged in a thick layer in a container made of heat conducting ,material. Heat exchange is then caused to take place'through the wall of the container, and, in some instances, it has been the practice to stir the materials slowly while they are undergoing treatment. These prior methods are not entirely satisfactory, since they require large heat exchange surfaces, and when an air current is caused to flow over the materials, it may take upand carry away dust, particularly, if the materials are in the form of a fine powder. The loss of materials as a result of their removal by the air current may be so pronounced in some instances as to necessitate the use of a dust precipitation plant for recovery of the materials, and this adds greatly to the cost of installation and operation of the equipmerit.

The present invention is directed to the pro- V 'sion of an apparatus which overcomes the obections to the prior practices, and, in accordance with the invention, the material is caused to move by centrifugal action in the form of a relatively thin layer alongv a helical path in contact ,with the inner face of a surface of revolution, and a medium of a. temperature different from that of the material is maintained in contact with the outer face of said surface. In the movement of the material, it is propelled wholly by centrifugally acting mechanical means unassisted by gravity, and the action of the propelling 'mechanism is such as to cause the particles to form a thin layer in continuous contact with thesurface of the container with the particles in the thin layer moving continuously relatively to one another. The material is not in contact with a body of air which is capable of carrying away dust particles, so that no dust losses occur, and since the relative movement of the particles in the layer brings all the particles into frequent contact with the heat conducting surface, there is a. good heat exchange, because the transmission of heat is effected by direct contact, and not by conduction through a layer of the material itself. Also, since the material may be caused to move at a relatively high speed over the surface, which permits a high degree of heat transmission, the surface may be relatively small. At the same ii time, comparatively long contact between-the particles and the surface is obtained, because the particles in the layer move along the surface in a helical path. The amount of heat transmitted to or from the material may then be 10 controlled by controlling the rate of movement of the material along the surface.

The'apparatus for practicing the new method may take various forms, and it includes a container having a wall of heat conducting material 15 and of the shape of a surface of revolution. Thus,

the wall may be of conical or cylindrical form and,

for some purposes, it is-preferable to employ a container having a conical heat conducting wall disposed with the axis of the cone vertical, and 20 the small end down. Means are provided at one end of the wall for introducing material to be treated into the container, and within the container is a propelling mechanism for forcing the material along the wall in a helical path to -a 25- discharge port at the other end thereof. This propelling mechanism may conveniently consist of a rotary shaft with a plurality of vanes thereon, and in the case of a conical container, the shaft is mounted vertically so that the vanes force the 30 material in an upward helical direction against the force of gravity to the outlet. Instead of being conical in form, the container may, if'desired, be cylindrical, in which case, the container is so disposed that the axis of the container is 35 horizontal, and the point of introduction of the g material is at one end and near the bottom of the container, and the discharge port is at the other end and near the top of the container. With both constructions, 'a-medium of a tempera- 40 ture difierent from thatot the material undergoing treatment is maintained in contact with the outer surface of the container wall, and heat exchange takes place through the wall. In apparatus usedfor cooling pulverulent material, the 5 mediumemployed may be water, which is' dis- V charged upon the-outside of the container from suitable nozzles.

For a better understanding of'the invention, 50 reference may be had to ,the accompanying drawing, in whichof the medium in contact with the outer wall of Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; V

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through another form of apparatus;

Figure 4 isa sectional view on the line 4 4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view similar to Figure 3 with certain "parts of the apparatus res moved.

Referring now to the drawing, the apparatus for cooling material, shown in Figures 1 and 2, comprises a conical metal container l0 disposed with its axis vertical and with its small end down. At thebottom of this container is a casing I I opening into the container and containing a feed screw I2 .of suitable construction. The top of the container is closed by a cover I! provided with a tangentially disposed discharge port ll,

and through the cover projects a rotary shaft or spindle l5 driven by any suitable means, not shown. A squirrel-cage beater having blades so separated that the material between them is exposed to the air in the middle part of the container is mounted on spindle I5 for rotation therewith. A beater of that character may c mprise spiders l8 and I! mounted on hubs l6 and I! provided on the spindle l5 near the top and bottom ofthe container, respectively, and vanes or blades mounted on the corresponding arms of the spiders l8 and I9 and lying close to the. En-

inner surface of the container and cover. circling the container near its upper end is a pipe 2| 'provided with a plurality of nozzles through which water is discharged against the outer surface of the container, as indicated at 22.

Inthe operation of the apparatus, the hot pulverulent material to be cooled is fed by the feed screw l2 into the bottom of the container. As

the material builds up inthe container, it is engaged by the blades ll moving rapidly around .in the container. The material struck by the blades is forced upwardly along the inner surface of the container wall along a helical ,pathby the centrifugal action of the blades, the materialforming a thin layer which is in continuous contact with the surface and in which the: particles constantly move relatively to one another so that all the particles come repeatedly into contact with the surface. When the material in the 0 layer reaches the innersurface' of the cover, it

has given up heat in an amount depending upon various factors, such as the length of its path along the wall, its speed along the 'path,.the temperature differential between the material and cooling medium, etc. The cooled material is then discharged through the port It.

The temperature of the material issuing from the container may be controlled in various ways, as, for-example, by varying the speed at which the shaft l5 rotates, and varying theter'nperature v the container and the rate at which themedium for different purposes, containers of diflerentlgeo metrical forms may be employed. Y

In the apparatus illustrated in Figures '3, 4, 7

and 5, the container Il' is'of cylindrical form container near the bottom thereof is an inlet casing 22 containing afeed screw 23 and near the other end of the container inthe cylindrical wall lyingwithits axis horizontal. -At one end 'of the 3 Figures 3 to 5, the material is delivered into the container by the feed screw just within the end wall of the container where it is struck by the blades 21 and caused to travel at high speed along a helical path toward the opposite end wall. In its travel, the material has the form of a thin layer in contact with the inner wall of the container, and the particles in the layer move relatively to one another so that the particles come repeatedly into contact with the container wall. This movement of the material is'effected wholly by the centrifugal action of the propelling means described, and the material moves along its helical path in part against the force of gravity, until it is thrown out through the discharge port. Heat transfer is then effected by maintenance of a suitable medium, of a temperature diflerent from thatof the material in contact with the outer wall of the container, as, for example, water may be discharged against the outer wall of the container by discharge pipes not shown.

With this form of the apparatus, the heat transfer effect is controlled by varying the rate of feed and the rate at which the blades 21 move' operates with a high delivery, the material is quicklypicked up by the blades and is rapidly passed through the-apparatus and discharged so that the rate of heat transfer is lower than if the material is fed slowly and moved slowly through the container.

It will be noted that in neither form of the ap-" paratus is air excluded. The blades act on the material inthe presence of air, some or all of which is fed in with the material by the feed screw. I The blades not only impel theparticles outwardly by centrifugal force. but they do so.

by a beating action which'mixes the material that it .will be capable of moving easily over the V inner surface of the container. To facilitate this beating-and mixing action the layer of, material is not closely confined at its side which faces the axis of the'"container, otherwise the action would be moreein the nature of a conveying action with not suiiicient opportunity ail'orded for lessening the density of the incoming material and maintaining it in astate of low density.

In the operation of both forms of the apparatus the material is fed to the container at a rate such that the volume of the material therein is relatively small with respect to the volume {of the container;

Both forms of the apparatus are simple and inexpensive to construct and operate,-they provide the desired heating or cooling effects which are subject to control, and they operate without dust losses. The inyention thus accomplishes the desired purposes without the disadvantages of the prior devices. 7

The method and apparatus of the invention may be used for the treatment of pulverulent material of various kinds, an example of such use being the'cooling of newly ground cement which is heated ln the grinding operation. Other materials which may be treated include hydrated lime, which is heated in hydration, burned alumina, and the like.

I claim:

An apparatus for cooling pulverulent material, such as freshly ground cement, freshly, hydrated lime, burned alumina, etc., which comprises a container having a heat-conductive wall defining a relatively large air space, the inner surface of said wall being generally frusto-conical and disposed with its axis vertical and its small end down, a cylindrical end section at the upper end of said wall having an outlet port therein, an outlet conduit leading from the port, means for introducing pulverulent material into the container near the lower end of said wall, a squirrelcage beater mounted for rotation on the axis of the w land having blades extending longitudinally of. the wall and end section from a point near where the material is introduced to a point above the bottom of the outlet, the outer edges of the blades lying close to the inner surfaces of the wall and of the end section and said surfaces presenting a surface free from abrupt changes of direction from the point of introduction of the material to the outlet port, the bladesoperating to beat air into the material introduced into the container to render it fluent and to cause the material to moveupwardly on the inner surfaces of said wall and end section along a helical path and in a thin layer in which the particles move relatively to one another, and means for causing a cooling medium to flow along the outer surface of said wall.

NIKOLAI AHLMANN. 

